Archive for the 'Sotheby's' Category
The First Place to Go For Industry Change
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010Sometime you have to look at the gift horse and wonder why and where did you come from? For the art and antiques trade, the recently passed American financial reform legislation has many intriguing possibilities. By creating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the legislation would allow this government sanctioned agency to oversee some […]
Where Do We Go From Here?
Saturday, July 17th, 2010The (hot) summer of 2010 is upon us in New York City, but telling the temperature in the art and antiques business is a bit more problematic. After the universal effects of “The Great Recession”, are things improving, getting worse, or still evolving from its traumatic consequences? Change in this industry is more than […]
A Legal Indictment Against the Duopoly
Saturday, May 29th, 2010My faith in the legal process may yet be tested. My son, a law student, sent me an article in the New York State Bar Association’s Entertainment, Art, and Sports Journal-Spring 2010 edition titled: The House Always Wins: A Call to Reform Art Auction House Regulations. It was submitted and written by a 3rd […]
Prices and Pricing of Antiques, of Anything
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010I have always been a strong advocate of disclosed prices in the art and antiques industry. The fear of disclosing an asking price is nothing less than a secret reserve price. It creates a setting for being deceived and manipulated before you even make an inquiry about the item. As a method […]
NYS Auction Legislation; Not Good Enough
Monday, March 8th, 2010Presently before the NYS Senate is a bill, passed by the Assembly that is attempting to define how public auctions should operate. This law needs clearer and more direct disclosure of the potentially deceptive and collusive actions presently allowed. Codified with this bill, the new rules will avail auctioneers to continue these abuses.
Below, is […]
Auction Draught; Dealers Rummage Around
Saturday, February 27th, 2010As bad as antiques dealers have fallen, so has the entire auction part of the trade. As I looked over at my group of upcoming Sotheby’s and Christie’s decorative arts sales catalogues, I had to pause at the thin volume and quality of inventory coming onto the market. I have three current (thin) […]
The State of the (Winter) Antiques Show
Friday, January 29th, 2010I started writing this blog when the antiques business was pre “Great Recession” in January of 2007. It was when the venerated New York Winter Antiques Show was on its last legs as an event with past glories. At that time the selection of dealer inventory styles was expanding. The extent […]
Industry Control; Controlling Inventory.
Monday, January 18th, 2010Physical possession of a fine or decorative arts item includes an added premium of control. Auctioneers like Sotheby’s and Christie’s have been using this advantage more than anyone in the industry. Their warehouses can be unbelievable experiences to walk through and see such quantity, quality, and diversity (sounds like Newel). But control […]
Irrevocable Bid Redux
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010As Enron was well versed in the smoke and mirrors of accounting practices, so too has Sotheby’s and of course Christie’s been encouraged with the buyer collusion offered by the irrevocable bid sham. This is now the duopoly’s new form of giving guarantees, and still collecting generous fees. With their intractable buyer’s premium, […]
Industry Evolution
Sunday, January 3rd, 2010I start 2010 with the anticipation that it will be better than the previous year. After reading Niall Ferguson’s book, The Ascent of Money, the road to riches over time has evolved quite dramatically in form and format. So as I look ahead, where have antiques and art come from and fit into the […]